Since June 2021, Ecevit Piroğlu, a political activist from Türkiye, has been held unlawfully and arbitrarily in an immigration detention center in Serbia potentially facing deportation to Türkiye, despite a Serbian court ruling that he could not be extradited. On February 12, 2024, he began a hunger strike in protest of his continued detention at the Padinska Skela detention center, and stated his intention to continue until he is released. Since then, his health has deteriorated significantly in the absence of adequate medical care. He remains at risk of unlawful return to Türkiye, where he faces a real risk of serious human rights violations. Ecevit Piroğlu must be released immediately.
PLEASE TAKE ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNTIL: July 8, 2024
take action:
- Write a letter in your own words or using the sample below as a guide to one or both government officials listed. You can also email, fax, call or Tweet them.
- Click here to let us know the actions you took on Urgent Action 41.24. It’s important to report because we share the total number with the officials we are trying to persuade and the people we are trying to help.
contact information:
Head of the Government of Republic of Serbia
Mr. Miloš Vučević
Beograd, Nemanjina 11
tel/fax: +381 11 3620-115
Email: [email protected]
Serbian Embassy in the United States
His Excellency Mr. Marko Djuric
1333 16th Street,
NW, Washington, D.C. 20036
Email: [email protected]
sample letter:
Dear Prime Minister,
I am writing to express my deep concern over the ongoing unlawful and arbitrary detention in Serbia of prominent political activist from Türkiye, Ecevit Piroğlu. I am particularly concerned that he has not been receiving adequate medical care since he started a hunger strike on February 12, 2024 and that his condition has been severely deteriorating.
I call on Serbia’s government to ensure the immediate release of Ecevit Piroğlu from the immigration detention center as his detention is unlawful and arbitrary, and to refrain from any attempt to deport him to Türkiye or a third country which could return him to Türkiye where he faces a real risk of serious human rights abuses. In the meantime, I urge the authorities to grant him access to adequate healthcare at a facility of his family’s choice, where he can receive treatment from qualified medical professionals in compliance with medical ethics, including the principles of confidentiality, autonomy, and informed consent.
Yours sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
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